Gear Review's blog

I admit it. Remington’s new Versa Max shotgun is starting to get on my nerves. I don’t normally become irritated with a gun and I realize it’s my own fault; I’m the one who made the decision not to clean it until it malfunctioned. At this point, it has 675 rounds through it from 3 ½” duck loads to 2 ½” RST super light 7/8 ounce shells meant for use in old vintage guns that might be damaged by modern high pressure loads. I even shot some 1,050 fps 7/8 ounce reloads and still… not so much as a hiccup. Every time I shoot it, it goes back into the safe dirty. I want to clean it but a promise is a promise.

The world is changing and sometimes the quality of a product so surpasses its low price it makes you wonder. Based on my personal experience, Konus scopes are a remarkable value. The latest one I’ve tried is the Konus KonusPro 3-10×44 Rifle Scope with Illuminated Reticule. This scope‘s features and quality clearly exceed its price bracket. My wife and daughter used it to bag five deer and a pig this season and they like it better than the premium priced scope that was on the Pre ’64 Model 70 they used last year. The illuminated reticule allows low light precision shooting and, in our area, the light can be really dim just before the end of the shooting day when deer are often most active.

The peep sight has become an almost universal accessory on modern compound bows, spawning a myriad of designs on the market today. However a common denominator among all of the current peeps is that they require you to pick a fixed peep aperture. TruGlo is changing up how hunters think about their peep with the introduction of the new Versa Peep for 2012.

Quivers are one of those bow must have accessories during a long, especially pack in hunt. Arrows get lost, bent, or otherwise damaged and it's not always easy to just pack it back and get a few more arrows. On the downside, when selecting a quiver a hunter has to decide between weight and capacity of the quiver. More capacity helps with having more arrows in reserve, but that just adds more total weight to the bow. If you have ever had this dilemma, Fuse Archery has a new quiver called the "Switch" that might just be what you are looking for in a new quiver.

Regardless of your style of hunting, there is one tool that is absolutely necessary on a successful hunt; a knife. Not just any knife, but a sharp knife along with a sharpening stone to maintain that sharp cutting edge. Most all hunters go afield with a stainless steel knife of some variation, but one alternative is ceramic knives. Ceramic blades offer a very sharp cutting surface and an edge that lasts for much longer because of the hardness of the Zirconia ceramic crystalline structure. For this review we are taking a look at the Stone River ceramic hunting knife.

The Nikon ATB series of binoculars has been a staple of Nikon's bino lineup for years and has been a favorite among hunters for just as long. For 2012, Nikon revised the Monarch ATB into a series of new Monarch binoculars called the ATB, the Monarch 3, the Monarch 5, and the Monarch X. For this review we'll be taking a look at the Monarch 5 which is closest to the Monarch ATB of previous model years.

The Monarch 5 comes in 3 power offerings: 8x, 10x, and 12x all with a 42mm objective. If you're looking for a smaller or larger objective size, you'll need to either look at the Monarch 3 or Monarch X. Currently the Monarch 5 series is offered in black or Realtree APG and our review model is a 10x42mm in Realtree APG.

Fuse Archery produces a line of bow sights for 3D shooters and bow hunters. At the pinnacle of the Fuse line up is the Carbon Interceptor sight which is new for 2012. For this review we'll be taking a closer look at the Carbon Interceptor and what it offers for a premium bow sight.

While Truglo is perhaps best known for their variety of after-market fiber optic bow and pistol sights, Truglo also makes a variety of archery accessories from stabilizers to bow releases. For this review we'll be taking a closer look at Truglo's entry level "Lock Down" four arrow bow quiver.

The original Apprentice compact bow was a popular entry level youth and women's bow for several years. For 2012, Bear has decided to update the bow and has dubbed it the Apprentice 2. For this review we'll be taking a look at the Apprentice 2 and why it offers an even better value than the original Apprentice.

By the numbers the Apprentice 2 is a compact bow with an axle-to-axle (ATA) of 27.6" inches and a brace height of 6.1", both of which are just a touch longer than the original Apprentice. However the bow still weighs in at a very light 2.9 pounds, has a peak speed of 265 fps, and is offered in left or right hand versions.

Fuse Archery offers a line of premium bow hunting accessories from sights to rests. Recently they have added a series of "Clinch" bow releases to their offerings and new for this year is a new release called the "Dual Caliper." Fuse is owned by the Hoyt Archery Company of Salt Lake City, Utah.

The Dual Caliper comes in two color variations either camo or black. The black model has a street price around $70 with the camo variation being around $10 more. Fuse also offers two other releases called the Clinch Barrel release and the original Clinch CFT (custom fit technology) both of which are single caliper designs and cost somewhat more than the Dual Caliper model.

About The Gear Review Blog

The Gear Review Blog provides a weekly dose of product insights and new gear reviews to improve your next hunt. If you have a product that you would like to have us review, please contact us at info@biggamehunt.net with your idea.

We hear more and more about giant bucks these days.
Hunters are on a mission, scurrying to and fro – and even from state to state - trying to find the “perfect” hunting area where big bucks abound and they are found chasing does at all hours of the day.
These properties exist but they are expensive to maintain and generally, very expensive to hunt!
Let’s look at possibilities closer to home – your land, your lease or land that you have permission to hunt!
My brother and I are fortunate to...